During my family trip to North Sulawesi, we managed to visit the Bunaken National Marine Park. It was at June 24, 2010 or the second day of our trip. We was lucky on that day, the morning was bright and the night before was not raining. If it was raiining, we would not be able to see the under water since the water would be muddy. We started in the morning aroun 8 o’clock in the Manado Bay and hired a motor boat to go to the Bunaken Island. It took one and half hours from Manado bay to the Bunaken Island.

The Bunaken National Marine Park was formally established in 1991 and is among the first of Indonesia’s growing system of marine parks. The park covers a total surface area of 89,065 hectares, 97% of which is overlain by sparkling clear, warm tropical water. The remaining 3% of the park is terrestrial, including the five islands of Bunaken, Manado Tua, Mantehage, Nain and Siladen. Although each of these islands has a special character, it is the aquatic ecosystem that attracts most naturalists like our selves. I and my family like nature and outdoor activities.

We brought our under water camera around with us. So we could take many photos and video below.

From many literature we understand that the waters of Bunaken National Marine Park are extremely deep (1566 m in Manado Bay), clear (up to 35-40 m visibility), refreshing in temperature (27-29 C) and harbor some of the highest levels of biodiversity in the world. Pick any of group of interest – corals, fish, echinoderms or sponges – and the number of families, genera or species is bound to be astonishingly high. For example, 7 of the 8 species of giant clams that occur in the world, occur in Bunaken. The park has around 70 genera of corals; compare this to a mere 10 in Hawaii. Although the exact number of fish species is unknown, it may be slightly higher than in the Philippines, where 2,500 species, or nearly 70% of all fish species known to the Indo-western Pacific, are found.

I touched the reef under water.

We were all happy enjoying the under water life.

My wife and Smita

My daughter Smita holding tight on the reef, to keep her body under water.